Siren's call
by Penover
Summary: Club Siren, the most renown nightclub in town. While it's owner's success story has been told to many, rumors about his mysterious conducts that drove away his competitions seemed to have drawn together a bunch of different characters. And as Inspector Ruby investigated further and getting closer to the truth, relationships are uncovered and conflict aroused.
1. Club Siren

Not the best writer around, but do please enjoy. Please review if you liked it. :)

On the outside of the wine factory, two men moved in and out of the garage, each time carrying out a box and setting them at the back of the truck. Much of their distaste, the weather was not at all favorable and the chilling wind started to haunt the men as their repetitive work continued to midnight.

Curious as to why the other man was delivering so many cases of wine, the man wearing a trench coat asked, "Where are you delivering today, James?"

"Club Siren," the other unwaveringly replied, he was not too keen on delivering at night time, or rather, midnight really, but reminded of his young daughter at home, his hands tightened around the goods.

"Isn't that the nightclub downtown?"

"Yeah, a creepy place really, all glamorous out top, but the place they have built this thing on…" He added, "Lenocord is not the best neighborhood."

To their relief, the immense amount of boxes finally seemed to have reached an end. "Well." The man dusted himself off and headed back into the factory. "It's sad to work on Christmas Eve, but may you have a wonderful night." He added a rather sarcastic tone to it and did a mocking bow.

James chuckled in return and flipped open the door to his truck. He sighed as a stack of snow has covered over the head of the truck. With a shovel in hand, he dug away the snow around the wheels, and he was on his way to Club Siren, the only place at night shining bright with light decorations and the fancy fireworks.

After an hour long of driving through snow as thick as mud, he got to the club and concluded that no matter how much he's getting, no sum of money would be enough for this. "Hello, James, how's the Christmas Eve going for you?" Welcoming the package of wine, a lady of slim build and glamorous makeup came to him with a basket of Christmas food.

"Would have been nice if I could stay home, but either way, too late to regret." He paused for a minute and unlocked the backdoor of the truck. "Just hoping that I am getting paid well enough to not spend my daughter's first Christmas home."

"Mister Walker has already forwarded the money, so there shouldn't any worries, you can leave the delivery outside, just hurry and go home then." She smiled kindly and waved goodbye as the man left the port.

Her lips retracted to a worried smile as she looked around and realized that it had to be at least two in the morning, her breath came out as vapor and she kneed down to start moving the boxes, despite she was wearing a think dress with an opened section around the thighs. She whispered and sang to herself a Christmas carol.

The lights outside the garage blinked in an odd fashion, and the light seemed to be wavering back and forth, reminding one of the faint lights of a matchstick. _Would be nice to have something warm to drink right now…_

"Miss Sapphire!" A familiar voice came from the back of the alley which startled her a bit. She sprung back up and wiped the snow off the back of her dress. "Seems a bit careless to be wearing such a thin dress?"

Clearly annoyed at the man, Sapphire frowned and crossed her arms. "Why, hello, Inspector Ruby, such a pleasure seeing you here." Despite the formal greeting, it was clear to the young man that the girl was not at all happy to see him.

"How can I help you?"

"Business as usual, but the current minister was keen for our investigation to tie up all the loose ends, so I had to revisit all the cases again before his arrival."

"And you are here at the back alley of the club for?" Sapphire's hands waved around at the surroundings, creating a rather embarrassing moment.

To an inspector, public image was rather important, and one way to stain the image would be admitting to a club girl that he was trying to sneak into a nightclub.

"Well, I thought I saw you in the back so I came to say hello."

Knowing that there was no point to quarrel with an official, Sapphire went back into carrying the boxes to the storage.

While this was a sign for Ruby to leave, he didn't quite catch the meaning of this, and stood by. "Shouldn't there be workmen here, instead of letting a woman doing the jobs for them?"

"Yes. But the 'men' have to stay home in celebration for Christmas, and I am, sadly, all alone for this evening." She caught a glimpse at him, wearing a long brown coat down to his knees, and a pair of trousers that were warm looking. She has dealt with the inspector a lot in the past year, and since their first meeting, she has noted his handsome appearance, and rather attractive aura, but when a man aims to take down the company that you work for, it is quite hard to even suggest a relationship. Plus, the inspector's grudging personality was sure to drive her off.

"What about you, inspector?"

"My girlfriend left town to visit her family home, so I am, sadly, alone too."

Sapphire shivered as the Christmas Eve snow returned, she sighed as she cursed her luck. The wooden casing felt exceptionally cold at touch. She let down the box to warm her hands, stretching them to gain some control over the cold.

Being a gentleman at heart, Ruby unbuttoned his coat and gently laid it on her shoulders. "Careful, Miss Sapphire, it's a cold night, and you need all your strength got tomorrow's Christmas Performance, no?"

Startled by the show of kindness, Sapphire paused for a moment as her face turned a pale shade of red, either from the freezing chill, or the sudden motion. "Oh, of course. Umm… Thank you…"

He tipped his fingers in the air, as if he had a hat, and he left the alley way, leaving Sapphire again, alone, in the dark.

Under the weak light of the candles set around the room, Blue Walker stood firmly in front of the window, staring down at the town. He saw everything. From the side of road where a man has just come out from the store with fresh breadsticks, down to the alleyway where the nosy inspector has just visited.

He frowned as the man left the shadow of his club building. He didn't like the inspector, not when he was elected, not when he started questioning his club, and not when he passed the registration that prevented him from expanding his empire. A loud display of midnight frantic interrupted his thoughts. He looked back into the inner layer of his 'home', it was a ballroom of at least two hundred meters wide and long. Christmas has not affected the popularity of the place; it brought more people, in fact.

Blue might not have a good reputation in town; people regarded him as a man with low morals, willing to do anything to get some business up the night. He let out a light chuckle as the lovely couple from the bakery seemingly won a bet from the casino side of the room.

They celebrated as they wrapped their arms around each other. He mused over the fact that they could celebrate over such a display of luck. Blue remembered that they were common. He has long since drawn the conclusion that, unlike the others, he was destined to be extraordinary. At the young age of twenty-three, he has opened the first nightclub in town, and has subsequently caused the biggest uproar.

And now, he has gotten the entire town's population wound up in this mud hole of self-indulgence and nights of bewildering parties. And he stood apart, at least two floors above them, looking at them, distanced and yet related somehow. He had his own collection of songbirds, pretty little birds that are dressed in all colors, singing all kinds of songs. He has spent a lot of money and time to gather his personal collection, and this was as close to a hobby to him.

Recently, there was an addition to his roster, and one that particularly drew his attention. A petite young girl, just around five feet two. She sported a waist long of straw colored hair, and a pair of bright yellow pearls for eyes. He was charmed by her looks, and her singing. She has one of the sweetest voices, and she brought an uncontaminated sense of purity to the stage every time she came up.

Her stage name was _Canary_. A fitting name for such a tune. It wasn't the first time that the thought of having her, both physically and mentally, came across his mind. Caging and perhaps plucking the feathers of the bird would bring him joy, but an unexplainable urge to see it in the wild also pressed against his nerves.

He had all the time in the world to manage the club; he was in check with all the internal affairs of the city itself. He was, next to the town mayor, the most powerful man in town. To many others, Mr. Walker possessed a cold hard mask over his face, and a deep sorrowful voice that could bring bad luck to others. These rumors drew inspiration from the seemingly coincidental disappearance of every single competition that Blue had, whether it was business wise, or personal.

This was the reason why he had captured the attention of the Inspector; reports that detailed on how Blue eliminated his competition through illegal means had been arriving ever since his establishment of his empire.

Now he had to hide in his office, poised in stasis, waiting slowly for the arrival of 12 December.

A message came by the phone as he watched the snow. "Mr. Walker, there's a man who wants to speak with you. He said his name was Liam."

He pressed the call button and instructed the doorman to let him in. He left his office doors open and he laid back on his chair.

The snow outside started to fall even harder, as the chorus in the club began their chanting of the Christmas carol, Blue closed his eyes and listened, the smoothing nature of the song seemed to have no effect on the characters down on the ground floor, as they continued to rage over trivial matters.

_Common. _


	2. Nighty Night Night

Second chapter, I am rushing these... I will probably try to get one chapter on per week, or for the least, two per month. :p

Please review :)

*I don't own the song in anyway, lyrics from "Don't you want to dance with me"

* * *

To enquire a private meeting with Blue meant that you would have to have some sort of personal achievement yourself. And Liam Redford had just the sort. A foreign visitor, he was the top student in his year to graduate from the University of Law. And he was instantly hired by Blue to be his commercial lawyer.

He paced himself up the stairs that led to Blue's office, trying to avoid contact with ground floor. He was unsure what could be so important that Blue would call him in on Christmas Eve.

"Mr. Walker?"

"Ah, Red!" Blue probably took a liking of him, as he made quick of a nickname from his surname when he was introduced to him. "I have been waiting for you."

Blue threw a leathered file onto the desk. "Open it."

He carefully retrieved the folder as if it was a ticking time bomb. He unwrapped the covering of it, and slowly, poured out a set of papers with a photo clipped to it.

"I need you to do something about this man. Take him out through legal rights, frame him for something, whatever, I don't care." Blue's fist slammed hard onto the table. He looked begrudgingly at the photo. "I want him out of the picture."

"Why the inspector?"

"He came by last night again. Snooping around, if it weren't for Sapphire, who happened to be there, he would have gone into the storage and who knows what he would find."

"You sure that he wanted to come into the garage?"

Blue sprang up as he stood toe to toe with Red; his eyes stared dead into his. "You don't question me, Red, I have gone deep into this, and you knew it when I hired you. You are part of my enterprise now; you will do what I tell you to."

Red hated the fact that he was intimidated by Blue into doing things that he never wanted to. The man had wealth, but above that was his attitude. He reminded him of his older brother, another man of strong presence. He spent much of his childhood tormenting him. The best day in his life was when his brother headed for military school.

Perhaps he was frightened, made insecure by the man. He never managed to say no to his request. Another problem was the requests. He never liked how he had to 'rid' Mr. Walker's problems. He was meant to be a lawyer, putting one away justly for their crimes and so on. At least that's what he thought he was going to do. He was tempted as such by Blue's invitation. The back-then boy expanded Red's desire with high salary expectation and a lot of promises.

"_I will bring a new face to this town." _The boy once said this with absolute certainty.

"No problem, Mr. Walker…"

Blue's strict expressions melted into a gentle smile, he resumed his usual manner and he led Red out of the office. "Have you watched our show yet?"

* * *

"Hello, everybody!" A girl of amber hair loudly announced. She was dressed in a thin China style dress, with a high neck collar and the color that highlighted her eyes. "Welcome to the Christmas special in Club Siren! I hope we have all had a bunch of drinks, getting tipsy and ready for a wild night of fun!"

Red tried to avoid associating with others; he sat in the shadows at the corner of the club, drinking a glass of bloody Mary on the house. He could hear the rich and rather large man who had two women in his arms. "O, I wish I could take you both home."

One of the reasons why he hated to work for the owner of this club. Filthy things happened in this club, it didn't any sort of moral check, so he might well be sitting next to a mafia boss and maybe under a certain politician right now.

"Well right now, let's welcome our first set of performers!"

The performances flew by quickly; Red barely noticed any of the women, despite how provocatively they were dressed. Red however was drawing in more and more glasses of drinks. His cheeks were burning up from all the liquor, but more importantly, he felt that he was assimilating to the people around him; he was feeling looser and looser, and perhaps, going in and start flirting with the bartender.

His drunken state was shaken off for a little while, as a petite girl walked in silently onto the stage. She was dressed in pure white. A feathery dress that lasted down to the ground. She looked as if she didn't belong in the crowd. The screaming from the casino, the drinking from the bar, all these noises seemed to die down as she opened her lips.

Her singing started as a chant, perhaps a prayer to the gods to frail her better in the world of men. She then looked up, a perfect face that seemed to have no stain of immorality. Her straw yellow hair seemed to be flying on its own. It waved around as if it was alive, as if they were dancing to the music.

_I have got to keep my distance_

_The pounding of my heart can't be disguised_

_I feel electrical resistance_

_Oh, how I want your touch, I want your touch…._

Unbeknownst to Red, on the upper levels at the private section, Blue stood out and looked down, holding a rather distorted smile, as if he was looking at a small toy of his. In his mind, he was fiddling with ideas, on how he could possess her once and for all.

As the voice of the girl died down, noises resumed. The girl stared down once again, disappointed, by chance, that no one on the platform seemed to be able to hear the hidden feelings, just as if she was a songbird, enclosed in a decorated golden cage. She calmly walked back into the curtains as they fell around her, resembling a mother covering her daughter up.

Immediately after the performance, the crowd headed up the platform and started to dance wildly, each shaking their body with no dignity. They pushed and shoved, probably mindless as empty bottles rolled on the floor.

Since no one was at the bar set, he decided to get on a stool. He noticed that the same woman who initiated the performance was serving the drinks. Perhaps it was necessary for bartenders to engage their customers in a conversation.

"Hello, I see you are pretty high up on the drinks, huh?" She jokingly asked. She flicked her hair backwards, laying her arm on the table and looked into Red's eyes with interest.

Everyone in here had a story, whether if they wanted to share it or not, Sapphire always got a tale of the day.

He nodded, feeling some fluid running up and down as he did. Something was definitely running up his throat that time.

"What's your name? I have ever seen you here before?" Red found her curiosity a little buggy, but more importantly, she was attractive, really provocative. Her makeup was thin, but the highlights around the eyes seemed to be drawing him in.

"Liam, call me Red though." The name was really getting to him. It meant something to him; it was probably because it was his color. Red symbolized his past personality. He was fiery, wild, out of control.

"Well, I am Sapphire. The doorwoman, shopper, performer and so on."

"I multitask a lot," she added.

Red sat quietly for a moment; he looked into his drink, a dark red color. He couldn't really think straight after the stunning performance and he just thought about the girl.

"Who was that girl in the white dress?"

Sapphire seemed not surprised; she had seen men who came in only for the girl. "You could find out yourself." Her lips widened as she seemed to be planning something.

"I thought you aren't supposed to lead random strangers into the backstage?" He chuckled. "Why not?"

He slammed his glass upside down and let out a laugh. He didn't care if anyone has seen him; everyone here was doing things much worse.

_Hold all the crazy inside, yeah_

_Don't want to have to rewind, no…_

* * *

Sapphire walked sharply in front, she was rocking her hands back and forth. Her hips moved vigorously as if she was intending to seduce the man behind her. Red tried not to look while following on. His hands stayed behind his back, and his head lifted up.

Sapphire realized what the man was trying to avoid and yet, she enjoyed getting the tink out of men, and seeing their reaction, whether they were decent, or they were provoked.

She came across a door with a yellow feather drawn on it. She knocked gently and whispered, "girl, there's a guest!"

A soft panting sound came from the other side of the door. In a brief moment, the door was opened and a young girl's head came out. "Oh hi, Sapphire." She frowned when she saw Red, "And who is this?"

"He's keen to meet you, he's a big admirer."

She giggled dryly. "I am actually… not dressed… I was taking a bath…" Then they both realized that the girl was wet, her blonde hair was dripping water and she had a towel wrapped around her tiny body.

"Oh," Sapphire laughed, "Oh course, let me come in then." She pushed open the door and slipped in, leaving Red outside the door.

He found a seat and around the stage make up place where the mirrors were. He looked at one of them and he realized how weary he looked, may be it was because of his late night sleeping schedule.

_Nah, definitely the drinks… Need to put myself down…_

Thinking that, he stood up and, while leaning against the wall, dragged his body towards the doors. He tried to think, but unsure where his house was.

_Oh god…_


	3. My date tonight

There were no rays through the blinds as Ruby sat alone in the office, a deck of paperwork on his table; he looked tired, perhaps trying to stop his eyes from shutting on their own.

A pair of boots was left outside of the office doors, damp because of that fact that he just returned after a walk around Club Siren. He was meant to have looked over all the files on the table, but just as always, he got carried away with the Sirens.

The phone call rung quietly, he never liked loud noises; he picked up the phone, knowing that it was the call that he had been waiting for. "Hello, Courtney." He let out a genuine smile, a hard to see scene.

"Yes, I miss you too."

He looked outside and listened. "Yeah, the snow is a bit too heavy this year; you should enjoy the sun while you can."

"No… I can't come…" He rubbed his eyes gently; he realized that he forgot to shut the windows as the wind sneaked in to show its presence.

"Yeah, work has tied me down… Give my regards to your mother…" Hanging the phone up, he saw a photo on the floor, trapped between the desk legs and the ground. He bent over to pick it up, he frowned. It was a photo of a young woman walking into the bar.

He recognized her, and it troubled him.

* * *

"Laura, what are you drawing?"

A girl picked up her red crayon and added a slash of feather to the picture. She held it up proudly with a lovely commentary, "Mum showed me this picture of a bird called Grebe, and I am drawing it now."

"It looks lovely." She gave her a pat on the back, and moved on to check on the other kids in the room.

She breathed in comfort when the bell at the top of room rang like a warning bird. She smiled and opened the front door, and waved for the children to leave the room, she could not express her relieve. She has been busy day and night for the past few days.

She flexed her shoulders as she sat down on her chair and picked up a book titled "A split soul". Her left thumb made its way to her lips as she naturally bit it. This little habit of hers gave her a false sense of security every time she sat down quietly.

"Miss Ward?" Inspector knocked on the opened door; he hung up his coat at the hook without asking. He looked at the woman, as if she had been guilty and had managed to hide away from the judging eyes of law.

"Yes, inspector?" She put on her sweet voice and asked gently. Everyone in town knew about him. He was known for his obsession with the case. The whole town was well aware of his hatred towards Walker.

"Would you be kind enough to come with me for some questioning?"

"Is this a formal request?" She raised an eyebrow and asked.

Ruby lifted his hat and gently laid it by her book on the table. "No, it's more of a private meeting."

"Is that so?" She climbed up and looked at him in the face. She licked her lips walked a step closer to the man. "Are you just here for police inquiry?"

Ruby looked a little shaken, he tried to walk back, but Miss Ward seemed to be pressing herself more onto him. "Crys…"

"Don't talk Ruby; I always loved you that way… Sharp-looking, proud of himself… Why did I let you go…?" She brushed the left side of his hair, and looked seductively into his eyes.

She lifted herself up a little, and pressed her lips passionately against his. Her arms wrapped around his head and leaned. Ruby fell back and looked shock and blankly into the back of the classroom, where the words, "Love what you can" written on the banner.

He seemed to enjoy it for a moment, but a sense of morality caught him. He placed his hands on her waist and pushed her away. She seemed to linger for a moment with what was supposed to be her lover-boy, but reality snapped her out of her illusion in the form of a warning bell.

"I am sorry, kind inspector, but this girl has to a job to get to, maybe later tonight at my house?" She lifted his head playfully with her left hand and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She waved him away and announced as the children returned under the attention of the principal.

"You still have the keys, I presume?" Ruby seemed to be trying to do his best to avoid looking back as he threw his coat back onto him. "11 tonight, alright?" He put up his hand in acknowledgement and hastily walked across the roads where a flower maiden offered him a rose.

* * *

"Good evening, Madame Ward," She was greeted by the amber hair lady at the front door as she walked in. "So nice to see you again tonight." She grinned as if she knew that something was different.

She perhaps didn't notice, but she was radiating a certain glow about her. Ignoring the wary eyes of the others, she walked to the backstage and pushed open a door with the name "Miranda" on it.

She breathed as she closed the door tight. She let down her bag and left it on the make-up table. Unzipping her skirt, she picked up a rather skimpy one piece with tons of feather decorating it. She lifted it up in the light to examine it. The feather were pale white and grey, with a hint of a brushed past red on them. The dress would barely hold up on her, since the only thing holding it up would be the tiny two strings, hardly visible.

Before she could even sigh, there was a knock on the door. "We are going on stage in half an hour, Crystal, go ahead and try your dress."

With the time limit, she stripped herself off her modest blouse, and replaced it with the dress. She stared at the mirror for a moment, trying to compose herself. The short skirt was hardly covering her thighs, and more importantly, she had a sense of dignity despite of what she was going to do. She noticed her sport pants and carefully placed it over her undergarment to spare herself of some future embarrassment. Realizing the protocol on the table attached to the dress, she slipped on the pair of black hoses over her legs.

Then there it was again. Time to put on make-up on her face. She always hated to do this. She hated what she does, she hated what she feels about this, and she hated this place. And each time she got the time to look into this mirror, the truth would come peeking out naturally.

_You seek pleasure in others, you want them to love you, and you picked this way to do it? _

Her head jerked up as she heard the voice. Her eyes were watery. Uncontrollably, she stood up and she looked for the direction of the voice.

_Don't you despise yourself? _

She looked again. The voice seemed to be rotating as she moved.

_Don't you regret for you did to me?_

Her eyes were covered in tears now; she screamed out, "Where are you?" The voice was loud enough to be heard from the outside. She looked desperately and hoped for it to stop. The words rang in her mind.

"Are you ok, Crys?" The same amber hair woman asked, she opened the door with her spare keys and checked, "I heard some screaming from out there, so I thought I would come in and check…"

Immediately in front of her, Crystal stood like an animal; her hands were on the floor, crouching down as if she was out hunting for something. But before a question was raised, she jumped up to embrace her and gave her a gentle smooch on her cheeks. "Thank you, Sapphire… I blanked out for a moment and I think I heard some voice… But no matter, thank you for coming in." She dusted herself off and grabbed hold of the hand that Sapphire offered.

"Well." She shrugged her shoulders in discomfort. "Performance is starting now, and you should just wipe those tears off your face…" She picked up her handkerchief from the table and cleaned her face carefully.

She grinned brightly. This scene reminded her when she was cleaning the face of a little girl who got into a fight with a boy. They were in fact simply fighting over a new toy.

_Come to think of it… It's sort of ironic…_

She put on her leather black jacket, which only covered up to her chest. She didn't bother to zip it up, as she felt it would be too tight. And then she stared into the mirror. She looked brilliantly like a doll in a glass case. Her entire outfit was black, with only the feather decorating it to provide an exotic view. She put on a pair of long dark socks that reached up to her knees and then a pair of plastic slippers.

She chuckled as she looked into the mirror. She wished she was really who she pretended to be. A fake magician with a top hat was all she was. She had to put on glamorous lipsticks and also heavy eyeliners to pair with the make-up.

Stepping onto the stage with confidence, she always has been doing the same routine. A simple magic snot trick to start off with. The slightly more educated crowd would wait until she demonstrated something much more sophisticated

And there was the escape the water tank trick. She absolutely hated this trick. Her costume would be wet, and with the feathers, they would start to stick to her skin, and the socks would be harder than ever to take off. The audience probably understood this. As they left her with a bit of time to change everything.

Looking as new as she could be in front of these people, the one trick that truly invited her crowd to enter was the Guillotine. She always picked the same member of the audience, her stunt man Jason, another ex.

This performance was breathe-taking, for her and the crowd. She never managed to harm anything in her acts, not even the doves in the cage. But it was as scary to her to anyone else to put someone under a seemingly sharp knife.

Either way, she went through it with the reminder that she would be having dinner with the lovely investigator, which put her into a smile.

_Do I need to buy anything in advance? _Her mind skipped as she was getting out of the club, the admirers of hers would stay around the exit to talk to her, but her stuntmen would gather around her to block off them until she reached her car.

_Does he like cheese? _She picked up a curd of blue cheese and put it under her nose. The distinguish smell put her off a little however.

_Maybe he would like some wine? _She picked up a bottle of wine that looked just enough to perhaps get him drunk.

_Let's make this a great night…_ She smiled as she walked to the counter; her heart skipped a beat as she thought about her upcoming "date".


End file.
